The Bicentennial
by katieyoung1960
Summary: This is the first chapter in a novel length story, that sees the now 30 year old, Victoria Winters returning home to Collinwood from her first year at university. . Barnabas starts us off by describing the year that Victoria has been away, her homecoming and their burgeoning romance... As always, all Dark Shadows material is the sole property of Dan Curtis.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

_**I hope I know her, if she's ever near...**_

A blazing bonfire pierced the darkness and sent sparks flying into the damp night. The air was redolent with the sweetness of a Maine springtime. The sound of the ocean roared in the near distance, just beyond Widows Hill, and the salt spray could occasionally be felt, like raindrops, falling softly on my check.

Fireflies danced about on the breeze. The chorus of far off spring peepers in their yearly quest for mates, along with the cries of numerous gulls and the occasional screech owl added to the din of human conversation made for an oddly pleasing cacophony.

We had come together on this early June evening, to welcome home our most beloved Victoria Winters, who had been away for more than a year doing her freshman studies in history at The University of Pennsylvania.

Victoria had arrived Collinwood exactly ten years ago, a young woman of twenty. She had come to act as governess to my cousin Roger's young son David, having made the journey from the Hammond Foundling home where she had spent her childhood. Not only had she come for Cousin Elizabeth's offer of employment, but in search of a family she had never known.

For eight years, she had acted as David's tutor, friend and mentor, but when he had decided, upon reaching the requirements for graduation, that he would be attending college in California, Victoria had taken the opportunity herself, to get the masters degree in history she had always longed for.

I was bursting with pride and happiness for her, as she embarked on her new life. It was a mutual love of history, after all, that had launched our friendship when I showed up in Collinsport a year after she had. But I also felt a great sense of loss and loneliness, for she was going off on a new adventure, leaving me behind, and I feared that I would lose her.

A very selfish point of view, I know, but you see, I was and still am, deeply in love with the beautiful governess who had captured my heart upon first meeting.

She had thoroughly swept me away with those dancing brown eyes, the demure smile and a disarming openness that has so often been absent in people I have met. Her intellect was profound and her patience with my obsession over Collins family history and my many old fashioned notions was so very endearing.

I longed, over the many years of our friendship, to reveal my deep love for her, but careless folly with the feelings of another woman, so very long ago prevented me from doing so. For I was fearful, that if Victoria knew my secret, my true nature, that she would surely turn away from me forever.

An affliction had been placed upon me, for the woman I had wronged was a practitioner of Vodun, and of a particular sect that followed the most baser of the religion's traditions. I had cast aside her affections for those of her mistress, a girl, barely more than a child, who I knew would please my family. Her title and monetary circumstance being much like my own.

That moment of indiscretion would cost me the next one hundred and seventy five years of my life, see the death of many an innocent victim, including my own dear sister and mother, and end with my broken hearted father chaining me in a coffin never intended to be opened again.

But opened it was and after years of living as a creature of the night, I was helped by a most giving and sacred friend and finally too, by the one I had wronged. For she had renounced her powers, and I had been set free to walk once again in the world as a man, not the vampire I had been cursed to become.

Only after my cure, toward the end of Victoria's last summer at Collinwood, was I able to even begin to hint at the depth of my feelings for her, and to my great surprise, she had accepted my awkward and fumbling attempts not only with grace, but with enthusiasm. Little had I known that my love was reciprocated all along.

We had made a promise to keep in touch through the post as often as possible, and what had started out as a letter or two a month, had swiftly become a much anticipated weekly event. A treasured moment all my own, with my dear Victoria.

I would eagerly make the drive into Collinsport every Monday for the purchase of food and other provisions and on the way out of town, my last stop would be the post office where I gathered up the bundle of two or three letters, postmarked Philadelphia Pennsylvania.

Upon arriving home, I would quickly stow my groceries, make a pot of tea, and retire to the drawing room for a day of relishing every word that was so beautifully handwritten just for me. Sometimes, the letters were on fine stationary but, more often than not, on hastily torn out pages from one of Victoria's notebooks.

I poured over each letter with great care and would then begin to craft my response, often starting over several times, like a nervous school boy, with balled up paper collecting in the trash bin beside my desk. I was slowly unleashing the story of my deepest secret, and I was ever fearful of making a crucial misstep in the telling.

Only complete honesty would do, and over time, our conversations grew so intimate, and detailed that it was with great glee, late one night, upon answering my telephone, that I heard Victoria on the other end of the line. Letters were no longer enough for all that we had to say.

"_I needed to hear your voice"_, she had told me, and thus began our nightly calls to one another until the spring, when she would be returning home for summer break. Something for which I could hardly wait...

Victoria was inbound on the twelve o'clock train, and I drove into town to fetch her. In my excitement, I arrived almost an hour early, and had paced the platform, unable to settle myself enough to sit and read the book I had brought with me.

Finally the train pulled into the station, and when I saw Victoria disembark, my heart leapt, my eyes began to fill with tears, and for the first time in my very long life, I drew a woman into my arms, in public and kissed her warmly.

Our drive back to Collinwood was spent making small talk. Victoria asked after everyone at the estate, and we spoke of plans for tonight's homecoming party. She seemed to be looking forward to seeing the family and talked excitedly about the gifts and trinkets that she had acquired for everyone during her first year in Philadelphia.

No one was home when I pulled the car up in front of the big house, and I suddenly felt unsure of what to do next. I unloaded her luggage from the trunk of the car, and helped her into the house, but I didn't know if I should stay or excuse myself and say that I would see her tonight.

Sensing my unease, Victoria suggested that we take a walk down to the beach. She wanted to stretch her legs after the long train ride, and besides, she had missed the sea, and the clean air that is taken for granted along this rugged coastline, but was in short supply in the big city of Philadelphia.

As we walked, I found myself greatly distracted by her mere closeness. By the recollection of our earlier embrace and the kiss that had lingered just a bit too long to be a simple hello. I longed to take her into my arms and hold her all the day and night, suddenly regretting that I had to share her with anyone in just a few hours time.

Ambling, we talked at great length about the coursework she had completed during the year, and she spoke of her desire to further her studies to include the restoration and preservation of historic documents, photographs and books. This interested me greatly, and I looked forward to any work we might be able to do in the future on the Collins family history in my possession.

The afternoon passed quickly and as the late sun began to make long shadows, I walked her home.

"I need to unpack and dress for tonight Barnabas. Would you like to come in and continue our conversation or do you need to go to the Old House before the party to get ready yourself?" Victoria asked, as she unlocked the door of the mansion. "My God, it seems like a lifetime ago that I was last here."

We entered the house, and she picked up two of her three bags, which we had hastily deposited in the great hall.

"Get that other one, would you, and come on up." She moved nimbly up the old staircase, pausing on the landing, as I had seen her do so many times over the years. "Honey, I'm home", she laughingly called out, and we headed for her old room. "Just toss that on the bed and have a seat. I'm going for a quick shower."

I watched as she removed her toiletries and a robe from the largest suitcase, and then hurried down the hall to the bathroom that she had once shared with Carolyn and David. As I sat in the wing chair beside her bed, I surveyed the room. It had changed little from the days when she had lived at Collinwood, and still held the warmth with which Victoria seemed to imbue all that she touched.

Mrs. Johnson, cousin Elizabeth's housekeeper of many years, had made up the bed with fresh linens, and left a large vase of daffodils on the bedside table. The sweet odor of spring itself emanated from them, and filled the room with life and the promise of the long summer days to come.

Looking at her bed, I could picture my love sleeping, her head resting softly on the pillow, her thick brown hair billowing out around her. A slight smile on her lips, as she gave herself over to the world of her dreams. I placed myself beside her, in this scene, imagining what had transpired before we slept.

I don't know how long I was lost to my wanderings, but I was shaken from my reverie by Victoria. Framed in the doorway, she wore the simple blue jeans and halter top that seemed to have become the fashion for young women in these modern and often disconcerting times.

Her feet were bare, her face was scrubbed clean and her long wet hair fell about her shoulders. She carried with her the scent of Sandalwood and musk. Fragrances that brought to mind my long ago summer spent on Martinique.

"You look very far away, Barnabas" she smiled as she crossed the room to where I sat. Bending to kiss me, she opened her mouth ever so slightly, letting her tongue sweep gently across my bottom lip. I closed my eyes and felt her fingers softly stroking the sides of my face, then moving up, becoming entangled in my hair, as she leaned in and our kiss deepened.

"I was merely thinking of how much I've missed you and how wonderful it is to have you here with me now. It's seemed a rather long year without you."

She knelt beside me, took my hand and held it firmly in her own, lifting it once, to her lips for a tender kiss. "I've always loved your hands" she said softly, "They're so graceful. I love watching you when you're reading a book, or holding your teacup, that way that is yours alone, of making everything you touch seem so precious and valuable". She pressed my hand to her check. "I love you Barnabas."

I leaned forward and pulled her into my arms, holding her tightly. I buried my face in her hair, and let myself be taken over by the tenderness of the moment. Hot tears stung my face, and I gave into the urge to weep openly, reveling in the gratitude for what I had instead of dwelling upon time lost...

"My dear Vicki", I heard cousin Roger call, as he entered the open door. "Oh my, I seem to have intruded on a rather private moment". He stepped back into the hall, and turned to leave.

"Roger, wait, please come in", Victoria called "We were just getting ready to come down to the drawing room for a bit of pre-party sherry. Will you join us?"

"If you're absolutely sure that I'm not making a nuisance of myself. Yes, I would love to. It's so good to see you again. Collinwood has been a very quiet and lonely house without you and David."

Victoria rose to give Roger a hug. "So I keep hearing. Maybe it's true what they say about absence and the heart." She smiled at me over Roger's shoulder. "Let's go down for that drink, shall we".

Liz was in the drawing room when we entered, and she was equally happy to see Victoria. She stretched out her long elegant arms and drew Victoria to her, holding her like a long lost child. "Vicki, my darling, how wonderful it is to have you home. This is your home, you know".

"Yes, I know." Victoria nodded.

I poured brandy for Elizabeth, Roger and myself, and her customary sherry for Victoria.

"Let's have a toast", Roger called, taking his brandy from me and raising the glass.

"A toast", I said, "To the ones we love"...

The evening was a long and joyous one, but now the party was finally drawing to a close. Roger and I sat together companionably, warming ourselves by the bonfire, as we watched our friends and family saying their farewells to one another. He watched me watching Victoria.

"If I didn't know better, old boy, I'd say that you are in love with our dear Miss Winters. Am I hitting close to the mark?", Roger asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Very close Roger. That's the reason that Victoria has taken a semester off, and come home for the summer. We've been writing one another while she has been away, you see, and speaking on the phone quite often. I suppose that our distance allowed us to say things to one another that we might not have said in different circumstances." I shifted in my seat stretching out my legs.

"I must say, I have wondered what has taken you so long. You have clearly been smitten with the girl since the day you arrived on our doorstep." Roger gestured toward Victoria, who was saying her goodnight to Carolyn and Liz.

"Perhaps it just wasn't the right time Roger, for either Victoria or myself." Roger had no inkling of my true past and my reason for avoiding a romance with his niece. "Knowing a thing and acting on it are often two very different matters." I told him as I got to my feet. I saw Victoria walking toward us. "Perhaps our time has come at last".

"You know I wish you and Vicki every happiness, as would Liz and David." Roger smiled warmly, and I knew that he meant it. I thanked him and helped him to stand. "Here comes our lovely governess now. Hello my dear, have you enjoyed your homecoming party"? Roger called out across the lawn.

I saw Victoria stop at the cooler of beer that David had provided, and pull two longneck bottles from the icy slush. She sauntered over, handing me a beer and taking my hand.

"I have enjoyed it very much Roger. It's wonderful to be back among family, but I believe, if it's alright with Barnabas, we'll be saying our goodnight. I'd rather enjoy a walk over to the Old House. Barnabas, would you mind my coming home with you so we have a nightcap by the fire?" She smiled at me, drank hardily from her beer and leaned in to give Roger a kiss on the cheek.

"I would be honored Victoria. Goodnight Roger, and please say 'thank you' to Liz for me. I've had a lovely time".

"Ready Barnabas?" Victoria asked, gently tugging my arm.

"I am", I replied.

And we headed for the trail through the woods...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

_**They say just once in life, you find someone that's right...**_

I reached for Barnabas' hand, as we stood under the old marble columns and watched the sky fade from inky blackness to the first hint of the dawn to come. The night was turning cold, and a storm was blowing in from the east. I could hear the rustling of young leaves and the familiar banging of shutters.

Even here, at the Old House, I could feel the damp of the ocean and hear the roaring of the far away surf. I shivered and Barnabas removed his jacket and draped it around my shoulders. It was a light wool and smelled of wood smoke and his shaving powder. I pulled the collar high, around my neck and face, and liked the rough feel of the fabric.

"Shall we go inside and see if we still have a fire to warm ourselves." Barnabas deftly turned the sticky old latch and let the door swing open.

Once inside the foyer, her drew me into his arms. He slid his hands inside the jacket, and for the first time, he touched my bare skin. I felt his sharp intake of breath as he bent to kiss me. He tasted sweetly of brandy. "I've waited all night to have you all to myself. To hold you, and take you to my bed." He said, as his mouth found mine again.

I felt light and giddy at his touch, his invitation. He led me up the stairs to a familiar room. His room, the one from his boyhood. It still bore a striking resemblance to its form in 1795. Willie Loomis, Barnabas' caretaker, had laid a fire in the grate and a lone candle burned on the bedside table. A book, one that I pictured Barnabas reading as he fell off to sleep, lay open on the bed.

A highboy stood in the corner, his robe neatly hanging from its half open door. I imagined that it or one like it had hung in that same spot every night, and probably would, for all his mortal life. My darling was nothing, if not methodical. I smiled at the notion.

Barnabas motioned for me to sit down on the bed, and I was surprised by the modern mattress that greeted me. I had expected the straw of his youth. The quilt was a lovely cotton patchwork, probably a Collins heirloom, the sheets a bright white, and freshly ironed.

Barnabas stood before me, and I sat, transfixed, as he unbuttoned his vest and shirt letting them slip from his shoulders and down his arms. Carefully, he laid them on the bed, and sat down beside me.

I took one of his large hands in mine, and traced the lines of his palm gently with the tip of my finger. His skin was soft, almost delicate. There was a small cut on his index finger. "What's this?" I asked, kissing the healing wound.

"Willie has enlisted my help with the spring gardening chores this year. We have been pruning rose bushes. I must say, it's been rather enjoyable, apart from the thorns." He drew the injured finger to his lips. " Did you know that those were my Mother's roses?" he asked," I remember her tending them with Ben, and little Sarah wanting so badly to help".

My heart brimmed with a longing for those simple days, when mother and daughter could indulge in such mundane pursuits as gardening. Life had not been kind to any Collins, but particularly sweet Naomi, who seemed so immersed in her own private sorrows.

Barnabas brushed the side of my face with the back of his hand, and brought me back to the present. He loosened the bit of ribbon that was holding my ponytail and let my hair fall free. He buried his face in its thickness and kissed the back of my neck.

"My dear Victoria, even knowing all that you do, all that I have been, you are still here. At times I can hardly believe my luck. Are you sure this is what you truly wish?" I could sense longing and fear in his voice. "I now have the opportunity to live and grow old, as a normal man, but my past will always be hovering about us. I would not blame you if you could not forgive me, or if you simply walked away".

"It is not mine to forgive Barnabas." I turned and kissed him softly. "I know what you were, and what you have done. I understand the many cruelties that you have both endured and inflicted, but I also know the man you were before, and that is the man I see before me now. A man of goodness and a kind heart. My life and my love lie with you, and I have always known that".

"None of us can change our past Victoria, but your faith in me lets me believe that I have a better life to come. You help me to believe that there is goodness and redemption for me yet. I wish to be that man that you say you know, but sometimes I'm very afraid." He heaved a heavy sigh.

"What I'm trying to say," he tried to continue, but he broke down and the tears of two centuries came, finally, as the dam of his emotions cracked wide open.

I held him to me and rocked him as I would a frightened child. I made no effort at comforting words, for there was nothing that I could say or do. For all that I loved him, this was pain that only he could know, forgiveness only he could have for himself.

Nearly an hour passed in silence, before he lifted his head and said, "I brought you here tonight to ask you to marry me and to lie with me as I have been with no other woman..." He fixed his gaze on the crackling fire.

"No other woman since Angelique." I said.

"Yes, since Angelique." He was quiet again, but I could see the veil of sorrow lifting.

"Then ask me Barnabas".

He reached into the pocket of his jacket, the one that I was still wearing, and brought out a small box. "I was in Collinsport, shopping one day, and in the jewelers window I saw this ring. I knew at that instant, that if you were ever to agree to be my bride, that this was for you. Will you wear it now, and live with me for the rest of my remaining days?"

The ring was a simple gold band, adorned with a lone sapphire. He lifted it from the box, and I extended my hand to him. He slid the ring onto my finger, and for a long moment, we both admired it as the deep blue stone glowed in the candle light.

"It's beautiful Barnabas, and I shall wear it proudly for all the days of my life. I will be your wife, and lover. Your best friend and confidant. I will love you for who you are, who you have been, and who you are yet to become".

He arose to finish undressing, and as he did, I removed my own clothes and tossed them to the floor.

I pulled at the covers, exposing the smooth, worn cotton of the sheets and the scent of laundry dried on the clothesline. I crawled in and invited Barnabas to lie beside me. He hesitated for only a second, and then, there he was, his soft warm body touching mine.

He pulled the quilt up around us and as the dawn hovered over the horizon, we celebrated our joining.

* * *

Willie had arrived for work on this cold Saturday morning, and busied himself making homemade biscuits in the old wood burning brick oven. A pot of strong coffee perked away in a copper kettle over the fire, and from the mantle above, he took down a small crock, filled with sugar, and placed it beside the two cups and saucers that he kept laid out on the old trestle table.

Little had changed in this kitchen for more than 200 years, and what cookware there was had been that used by the servants during the time of Naomi and Joshua Collins.

When Willie had first started work on the Old House, Barnabas had wanted the main rooms restored first, having no need for a place to cook himself, but Willie had taken on this old kitchen as his own labor of love, and in the long lonely hours of the day, when Barnabas was secreted in his basement chamber, he had tenderly cleaned and restored every inch of the old room.

A huge fireplace, big enough to stand in, took pride of place on the north facing wall. Inside it were hooks of varying sizes, to hold pots and kettles, and directly over the fire itself was a spit for roasting fresh game. There was a cast iron griddle that swung out on an arm, on which Willie did most of the day to day cooking. Above the firebox, embedded in the brickwork, was a solid mantle, made from a hand-hewn six inch by six inch piece of pine. Several of the old cooking tools still hung on it, including the original peel that was used for placing and removing bread from the oven.

To the right of the fireplace was a solidly build Welsh dresser, that held the hand water pump. In the top of the dresser was a tin lined basin, and it was large enough to hold the big wooden bowls used for washing and rinsing dishes.

Above, were shelves still filled with the delicate white and blue china that Naomi had used as her everyday pattern. There was an array of cups, saucers, plates and serving platters of all sizes. A smaller shelf held simple white earthenware bowls, which Barnabas had told Willie were kept for the children. He and later, little Sarah, took their meals in the kitchen with the servants and used these sturdy dishes and a set of delicate silver spoons to eat their meals of porridge and stew.

Now, every morning, Willie got to the Old House promptly at 7 AM, got the fire going and made the breakfast that he and Barnabas would share as they talked over the day's events and chores.

Barnabas had asked Willie to return to his employ in late winter, when it had been decided that the Old House would be fitted with electricity and modern plumbing. There was much planning to be done, in order to keep the appearance of the house historically correct, while accommodating the modern conveniences. There was no one better suited for the task than Willie, and Barnabas had offered him a fine salary, as well as agreeing to be his partner in the actual work.

Together, the two spent their days going over the various plans that Barnabas had commissioned from several local architects, choosing the ones that seemed most feasible. In the afternoon they interviewed the carpenters, electricians and plumbers who might make up a suitable crew for the job. This was going to be a massive undertaking in a house of this size, and the project was due to begin later in the summer.

I awoke around nine, to the smell of coffee and the sound of a drenching spring rain beating against the far window. Barnabas lay beside me, his face innocent in slumber. A smile played across his lips and his eyes moved beneath the lids, as he was lost to a world of dreams.

I moved slightly, not wanting to wake him, for we had found sleep until well past first light. I sat up and when he still had not roused, I quietly slipped out of bed. The fire from the night before had burned to a tiny layer of coals, and the room was not more than fifty degrees. I grabbed Barnabas' robe from the highboy, bundled it around myself and made my way down the creaky back stairway that lead to the kitchen.

* * *

Willie was bent over the old trestle table, with his back to me when I said my good morning, and he let out a squeal of surprise.

"Vicki," he said, breathlessly. "You scared the shit outta me". His hand went to his mouth. "I...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cuss at you or nothin', it's jus' that I thought it was only me and Barnabas in the house".

"I'm sorry that I frightened you Willie. Barnabas is still asleep and I thought that I'd come get some of that wonderful smelling coffee while it was hot. Barnabas has told me all about these breakfasts you've been cooking".

Willie blushed a bit, then looked me up and down, "It's just that I thought you was staying at Collinwood with Ms Stoddard...Barnabas never told me..." He fumbled with the hot skillet as he set it on the table, almost allowing the beautiful fluffy biscuits to fall to the floor.

"I came home with Barnabas last night." I said with a knowing smile. "I thought that he had told you that I would be here, but I guess there wasn't time".

"Oh, were you comfortable and all. I never made up none of the other rooms except his, but I guess that'd be where you stayed." Willie seemed quite flustered for a man of his experience.

We stood in silence, awkward in each other's presence for the first time in years. I pulled the collar of the robe up around my face, inhaling Barnabas' scent.

"M..Me and Barnabas usually take our coffee black, but we got some sugar and maybe cream if you want some. Mrs. Johnson give us some real good homemade jam. Here, take a seat Vicki." He said, pulling out a chair for me.

"I'll have my coffee black Willie. You don't have to go to any extra trouble. I'm sorry that I've made you uncomfortable. I know that it's usually just you and Barnabas..."

"It's okay Vicki, I didn't mean to be rude to you or nothing. It's jus' that we ain't too set up for entertaining a lady in the mornings round here. Sometime Julia used to be here, but that was kinda different".

"You mean back when she was giving Barnabas his treatments? I remember that she was here a lot back then".

Willie wrestled the boiling hot kettle to the table and I slid the trivet over for him to rest it on.

"You know about his treatment and his affliction and all?"

"I do. Barnabas and I have been writing to each other while I've been away, and even speaking on the telephone. I guess the time apart made it easier for us to talk about things that I suspected, but didn't know for sure".

"So that's why he all of a sudden wanted a phone las' winter. He couldn't wait to get that thing in here. Pestering me all day about when the men would be able to come and put it in. I thought it was just 'cause of all the carpenters and folks we have to do business with, but come to think of it, he was just as happy to use Ms Stoddard's phone for all that".

I laughed. "I simply made the suggestion that he get a phone. I never knew that he was going to worry the life out of you until it was hooked up".

"You know how he gets when he wants somethin' done. It's all he can think about until he gets it. Sometimes I tell him he's like that 'cause his mama and daddy didn't give him any presents for Christmas or his birthday, and now he's got to have it all".

"What does he say to that?"

"Oh, usually tells me to shut up, but that's only cause he knows how he is and he doesn't like hearin' me tellin' him the truth." A sardonic smile spread across Willie's face. "I'm glad you're here Vicki, he's real different when you're around. Seems like you make him real happy and a lot more calm".

"I'll be here a lot now, maybe even more than you'd like Willie. You see, Barnabas asked me last night to marry him." I showed him my ring.

"That's real pretty Vicki. I'm glad that you and Barnabas got engaged. I known for a long time that he loved you an awful lot."

He stroked the ring, lost in thought. "You sure you know everything about Barnabas, from the start of it all?"

"Yes Willie. I know about how you came to be here, and Maggie Evans, Angelique, all of it."

"And you still want to marry him. You must love him and awful lot cause it was real bad around here back in them early days. I mean, it was _real_ bad Vicki." His bottom lip was trembling and I thought that he was about to start crying. He put his hands over his eyes. I got up and put my arms around him.

"I know it was bad Willie, but I also know that Barnabas was always a good man in his heart, and that I can't hold his past against him. I've had a long time to think about it all, and I know that I want to be with him, no matter what happened before...You'll never know how sorry I am that any of it hurt you or Maggie".

"Can't change none of it, or any of the stuff I done with Jason neither. I seen and done some things for both men I never thought I'd do, and even though Barnabas has been real good to me since he got cured, sometimes I can't help rememberin' it all. You understand don't you".

"I understand more than you know Willie. Would you believe me if I told you that I was with Barnabas when the curse started. That I was back in 1795 and that I knew Josette and Angelique and because of her, I was almost hanged as a witch".

"Wha..." He sat down at the table, wiping his forehead with his sleeve. "So it is true." I sat beside him and he poured us both a cup of coffee...

"Back in 1967, Roger called for a séance. He wanted to contact Barnabas' sister Sarah. She had been appearing to David, Maggie, Sam Evans, even Burke Devlin. Anyway, during the séance I somehow got caught in one of those alternate times that Professor Stokes has spoken so much about, and I was sent back to Barnabas' time. I was here at the Old House when Angelique came, and then later, when Josette and her family arrived. I remember when Jeremiah and little Sarah died, and when Angelique cursed Barnabas. I was in the Collinsport jail the night that Josette jumped from Widow's Hill, and when Naomi Collins drank poison and killed herself. I've seen things too Willie."

"Sweet Jesus Vicki" his voice stuck in his throat and he began to cry again. "That's some shit, but I know you ain't lyin' about none of it. I seen Sarah myself a few times. One time she left a little wooden ball that she was playing with, and when I showed it to Barnabas, he got real pissed off." Willie learned forward in his chair, warming to his subject, needing to be heard.

" And once, I overheard Barnabas and Julia talking about you and all that going back in time. They said that you was hanged instead of that other governess, but you switched places just in time and she died. I wouldn't of believed none of it, 'cept everything else I seen, makes me know deep down that it's the God's honest truth".

"Here, take one of these Vicki, before they get cold." He put a biscuit on a plate and beside it, a big dollop of Mrs. Johnson's fresh blueberries and handed it to me.

"Thanks Willie." I took the plate from him, broke open the hot bread and filled it with the sweet jam.

I arrived in Barnabas' time nearly two months before Angelique got there." I took a sip of my coffee. "I just appeared on this very doorstep one day, a complete stranger, dressed in these funny modern clothes, and there was Barnabas standing on the porch about to go into the house. He found me odd indeed, when I called him by name, but he soon recovered his good humor and got me inside before anyone could see me".

"He was a bit surprised that I claimed to know him, but he took me in, found me some clothes, offered me a room and told his family that I was the new governess. He explained my odd behavior by saying that I had been in a carriage accident and the shock of it all had caused me to lose my memory." I took a bite of my breakfast and realized just how hungry I was. The taste was pure heaven.

"Barnabas was a kind and open minded man simply looking forward to marrying the girl he loved and living a normal life." I continued. "It was so sad, watching the nightmare that took over this family. And once his Aunt Abigail and that crazy Reverend Trask started talking their witchcraft nonsense against me, I had no idea what to do. I was caught in a time that was not my own, unable to leave or to help myself or Barnabas".

"Barnabas had no idea what was happening, only that the life he wanted was falling down around him, and by the time he was cursed, there was nothing he could do. Trask had me sent off to jail, and Barnabas tried his best to get me released. He even convinced his mother and Ben Stokes to speak to the judge, but even one hundred years later, and far away from Salem, witch trials were decided before the accused had ever had their day in court"...

* * *

"Good morning you two." Barnabas entered the kitchen. He was barefooted, wearing only his trousers and an undershirt. His hair was mussed from sleep and he needed a shave. He kissed me on the check as he grabbed a biscuit and broke it open.

"Barnabas!" Willie exclaimed. "You sick or something. In 9 years, I ain't never seen you lookin' like that. Why ain't you dressed?"

"Why thank you Willie. I'm glad that you've noticed how hard I usually work at my appearance." He smiled rather sarcastically. "Would you mind pouring me some coffee Mr. Loomis, I would love some, and some jam too, if you would."

"Perhaps," he continued, as he sat down beside me, "perhaps I'm feeling a bit I don't know, less formal this morning, shall we say". He heaped blueberries on his bread and tucked in.

Willie poured Barnabas a steaming hot cup of coffee, set the sugar bowl down in front of him, and handed him a spoon that I recognized as one of Naomi's. I realized that Willie knew Barnabas' daily habits far better than I.

"There you are sir, and you ain't gotta get all bent outta shape with me if I notice you lookin' different. Especially on such a happy day".

"A happy day. Why, whatever do you mean Willie?"

"Stop it now Barnabas, Vicki told me about you all gettin engaged. Congratulations you old fart. I hope you're real happy. And I mean that too. Happy as can be. Got yourself the sweetest girl in the world. And she loves you."

"You're right Willie, I am the luckiest man alive, and I know it. I don't deserve any of it, yet here I am, with this beautiful woman who has agreed to be my wife, and you, my dear friend and business partner. I'm sorry if I offended you or seemed ungrateful".

Willie blushed, "It's alright Barnabas. I don't know if I'll ever get used to seeing you act normal, that's all. Heck, I don't even know what normal is to you. Normal back in your time and normal now is like apples and oranges. Ain't no comparin' ".

"You're right Willie. I'm still getting used to my new life myself. I don't know exactly who or what I am yet either".

"On a different note, I'm glad that you're here this morning. We have a lot to discuss. I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you about any of this before now. I know that I told you that there would be no secrets if you came back, but I also had Victoria to consider. I hope that you will forgive me for springing all of these changes on you".

"I was just surprised is all Barnabas, but it ain't nothing." Willie poured more coffee for me and for himself. "Me and Vicki been doing a lot of talking this morning, a whole lot, if you know what I mean." He lowered his head, and worried at a thorn that was lodged in his thumb. Another victim of Naomi's rose bushes. "About the past and all..."

"Yes Willie. I know exactly what you mean. The past indeed. There will never be anymore secrets or lies. I promise you both that." Barnabas looked out the window at the blustery day.

"Anyway, it's Saturday, and as you say, a happy day, so I don't expect that we will be getting any work done. We do need to go over to Collinwood to get Victoria's things and then I thought that we could take a ride into Collinsport for supplies and maybe a bit of a celebratory lunch at the Collinsport Inn. Since there will be the three of us now, we'll need to lay in some more food and supplies. Get whatever Victoria wants to have on hand".

I watched the expression on Willie's face change from somber, to what I can only describe as excitement. "That sounds real good. We can get some supplies and I can keep cookin' for all of us, if you want. I kinda enjoy that. Jason always said I was pretty good at it. He used to say I'd make somebody a real good wife someday." A broad smile broke across his face, and he laughed. For the first time ever, I realized what a handsome young man Willie was. He had a softness about his appearance that made him look tender and innocent.

I reached out for his hand and gave it a squeeze."You have a fine sense of humor Willie Loomis. There's so much that I don't know about you. I hope that we can talk more, and get to know each other. Now that you know that I'm not running off, maybe we could become friends. I would like that. I think that there is a lot more to you than people know".

Willie seemed a bit startled and skittish, but he didn't let go of my hand. "I would like that a lot Vicki. Nobody ever said that to me before, 'specially not someone like you. I'm real happy that you and Barnabas believe that I can do something with my life and that you wanna give me a chance. I won't never let you down".

Barnabas took another sip of coffee, and we sat in companionable silence for some time...


End file.
